Intel Confirms Delay in 10nm Processors to 2017

The discussion about manufacturing processes came during the company's conference call to announce second-quarter financial numbers. During the second three months of the year, the chip maker saw revenue come in at $13.2 billion, a 5 percent drop from the $13.8 billion a year ago. Intel's net income hit $2.7 billion, a 3 percent decline from the $2.8 billion of the second quarter in 2014.
The company was hurt by the ongoing decline in the global PC market and its continued problems getting its mobile business into gear. The Client Computing Group—which encompasses both PC and mobile chips—saw revenue decline by 14 percent year-over-year, to $7.5 billion. Like analysts from IDC and Gartner, Intel executives expect the PC industry to continue to struggle for the rest of the year. Some of that will come as users wait for systems that have both Microsoft's upcoming Windows 10 operating system and the Skylake chips.
"There's always a little bit of a stall right before a new product like Skylake," the CEO said. "But when you have a new product like Skylake combined with a new OS like Win 10, which the majority of these devices will run on, that tends to have people waiting to see what those products are going to be. … I think when you put all these together … 2015 be weaker on the PC than we had anticipated."
PCs will continue to be important to Intel, according to Stephen Belanger, analyst with Technology Business Research (TBR). The Client Computing Group accounted for 57 percent of overall Intel revenues.

"Despite sluggish desktop and notebook sales, PC processors remain central to Intel's business model," Belanger wrote in a research note. "The company's commitment to innovation ensures a steady stream of smaller, more powerful processors designed to meet market demand for high-performance, lightweight, low-power solutions. For example, in 2Q15 Intel launched the Atom-based Compute Stick and fifth-generation Core notebook and desktop processors."

However, even as the PC and mobile unit struggled, Intel still saw strength in its Data Center (10 percent year-over-year revenue growth) and IoT (4 percent growth) groups.